We conducted an interview with Martin K. about his dangerous experiences in road traffic. He is the spokesman for the local chapter of the ADFC in Büchen.
The Allgemeine Deutsche Fahrrad-Club (ADFC), with its more than 185,000 members, is a strong advocate for a traffic turnaround in Germany. The club is convinced that good, intuitively usable infrastructure, well-designed cycling networks and, above all, space for cyclists invite people to use the bicycle as a means of transport. They actively advocate for safe and comfortable cycling infrastructure so that young cyclists and those young at heart can get around safely and quickly.
Last but not least, the promotion of cycling is also a political mission for which the ADFC is a strong advocate. Its goal is to encourage all people, regardless of age and regardless of where they live, to ride a bicycle and thus to be mobile in the future. You can find out more about the goals and demands of the ADFC in its basic program. In the following, we want to show you how he answered our questions and, above all, how he assesses the safety of cyclists in road traffic.
At the moment he counts himself more to the category of the everyday cyclist. But after Christmas, due to his job, he only rides 3 kilometers to the train station and has to continue the rest of the way by train. Martin covers a good 100 kilometers by bike, since he is on the road 5 days a week and rides his bike about 18 kilometers a day. In addition, he goes shopping up to twice a week (5 kilometers), picks up his children from kindergarten (4 kilometers) and also likes to pick up his bike on the weekends (5-30 kilometers).
Since he rides his bike almost every day, he has already experienced some dangerous situations first hand. Motorists passing too closely, provocative honking and the roar of the engine are things he experiences on the road about every week.
But what can these dangerous situations be attributed to? Is it, for example, due to the infrastructure, or the impatience of many drivers?
Martin thinks that dangerous situations are often caused by the impatience of motorists, since most drivers want to get from A to B as quickly as possible without losing too much time. For this reason, some motorists make life difficult for cyclists and sometimes react aggressively and negatively even when attempting to clarify verbally. Martin sees a solution in improving the infrastructure in Germany, as this would ease road traffic (example: Holland). He also sees education and training of car drivers and cyclists as very important, since most road users do not want to provoke an accident.
To what extent did the dangerous situations you experienced influence or even change your own driving behavior?
In Martin's case, these dangerous situations led to a change in his way of driving and thinking. It also shaped his overall attitude toward the infrastructure in Germany and his volunteer work with the ADFC. He describes himself as a confident cyclist and tends to ride more toward the middle of a lane. This technique causes most motorists to only overtake in "safe" places and at a respectable distance. His motto when riding is: "Act offensively but also always be ready to brake". You have to take your place and stand up for it.
Have there ever been situations on the road that were so dangerous that the police were called in?
Martin says that in some cases he has involved the police and that reports and charges have been filed with varying degrees of success. But basically it is about showing the driver that he has just endangered a person with his behavior. Depending on the insight and the reaction towards him, he then decides whether or not to press charges.